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Ask a child or teenager 鈥渨hat do you want to be?鈥� and you might get the response, a 鈥淵ouTuber. Instagrammer鈥�. That鈥檚 perhaps not surprising given how attractive the world of social media influencing seems to be. It looks hassle-free, with , travel and endless opportunities.
Social media influencers publish videos, images and motivational stories on social media channels such as Instagram and YouTube. But their presence is different to the average user. An influencer has a solid base of fans who follow the content for entertainment or inspiration. In return, these followers indicate their enjoyment and appreciation by liking, sharing and commenting on photos, links and videos, while influencers get paid through advertising.
The number of people following and the number of likes and comments is currency in the social media world. It enables influencers to build a reputation and stand out from all of us who use social media to interact with friends. Most social media influencers have their own specialist expertise areas which they are passionate about or develop as a hobby. One of the UK鈥檚 top earning influencers 鈥� better known as Huda Beauty 鈥� started off publishing cosmetics tutorial videos but ended up documenting every minute of her life via videos and pictures.
This is a key element of the phenomenon. It sets social media stars apart from traditional celebrities. Followers value the ability to get a close look at the personal lives of influencers. They like following 鈥渞eal鈥� and relatable people. Influencers are effectively collaborating with their followers, building a network that helps them to . That in turn, enables them to generate income through advertising deals.
The Instagram influencer market has grown exponentially in recent years. It鈥檚 now a , with a value projected to double by 2019. Social media influencers are seen as being able to the attitudes and behaviour of their followers by pushing content at them, from to . But the relationship also involves interacting with them by asking for their views and recommendations as well as, crucially, thanking them and publishing content they ask to be posted.
But our of a micro-influencing group called revealed that this relationship can also have repercussions for influencers. Micro-influencers are those whose follower count is below 10,000. We talked to 12 such micro-influencers who mainly post content about their lifestyles.
It鈥檚 common for micro-influencers to start with their own interests and hobbies to generate a number of likes and followers, which leads to a boost in self-confidence. Ultimately it鈥檚 this confidence that motivates micro-influencers to carry on posting. However, as with any , such as , there are also negative outcomes. We that micro-influencers are empowered through their increased confidence but that , social media fear and insecurity are common traits too.
Some of the micro-influencers we interviewed revealed that they felt afraid their followers would perceive them as being too image conscious or that they would see them as being too focused on their brand image rather than their community of fans. They also face anxiety through with other social media users. One influencer said:
On Instagram I started comparing myself to others and wondering why my pictures weren鈥檛 getting as many likes or why it didn鈥檛 look a certain way.
We found that mental health issues were also triggered by the followers themselves. When the influencer first sets up an account, they have their own ideas about what they want to achieve. They want to share pictures of their travels or recipes. But as they attract more followers, the topics and content posted starts to be determined by what the online audience wants to see, sometimes totally changing the creative direction. This causes conflict in an influencer鈥檚 mind. They no longer act in an authentic manner by posting videos and images they genuinely like but attempt to post images that might be more popular.
One of the influencers who took part in our study admitted:
I do feel 鈥� when I post something and it doesn鈥檛 get many likes I do think about it, get frustrated and run around to get ideas. I check other influencers鈥� content and then think-rethink what if my followers will not like it or think I am not funny. Some comments I get are so hurtful. It is like in relationship. There are good and bad days I have with my followers.
Pressures from followers are also combined with the issue of . Take the recent story of Sophie Gradon, one of previous contestants. Before her death, Gradon had openly shared her experience of , claiming that it contributed to her depression and anxiety.
When we talk about , we so often focus on and , but as more of us take an interest in producing social media content, we need to start thinking about the anxieties and insecurities we ourselves can create by piling the pressure on ourselves or the people we admire.
Young people are attracted to the world of social media influencing because it can make you rich and famous. But they soon find themselves dependent on the number of likes and opinions their followers post, which can lead to low self-esteem, depression and other mental health issues. Perhaps we, as followers, need to think more about what part we play in that cycle.
, Senior Lecturer in Marketing , and , Lecturer in Human Resources and Organisational Behaviour,
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